U.S. patent application number 15/186927 was filed with the patent office on 2017-03-16 for method, apparatus, and computer program product for user-directed reporting.
The applicant listed for this patent is ARRIA DATA2TEXT LIMITED. Invention is credited to Robert Dale, Daniel da Silva de Paiva, Mario Feegrade, Gowri Somayajulu Sripada.
Application Number | 20170075884 15/186927 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 56381639 |
Filed Date | 2017-03-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170075884 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Sripada; Gowri Somayajulu ;
et al. |
March 16, 2017 |
METHOD, APPARATUS, AND COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCT FOR USER-DIRECTED
REPORTING
Abstract
A method, apparatus, and computer program product are disclosed
herein for user-directed reporting. In the context of a method,
context information is received, wherein the context information
defines the data set from which a natural language text or a graph
is to be derived. The method further includes generating a set of
messages based on the context information. The method further
includes generating, by a processor, a context-specific report
based on the set of messages and the relationship between them,
wherein the context-specific report is configured to linguistically
or visually express at least of messages. The method may include
generating additional messages or annotations interactively. A
corresponding apparatus and computer program product are
provided.
Inventors: |
Sripada; Gowri Somayajulu;
(Westhill, GB) ; Dale; Robert; (Aberdeen, GB)
; Feegrade; Mario; (Aberdeen, GB) ; de Paiva;
Daniel da Silva; (Aberdeen, GB) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
ARRIA DATA2TEXT LIMITED |
Aberdeen |
|
GB |
|
|
Family ID: |
56381639 |
Appl. No.: |
15/186927 |
Filed: |
June 20, 2016 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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14027684 |
Sep 16, 2013 |
9396181 |
|
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15186927 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 40/56 20200101;
G06F 16/31 20190101; G06F 16/3329 20190101; G06F 3/04842 20130101;
G06F 40/134 20200101; G06F 16/3328 20190101; G06F 40/169
20200101 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/28 20060101
G06F017/28; G06F 17/30 20060101 G06F017/30; G06F 17/24 20060101
G06F017/24; G06F 17/22 20060101 G06F017/22; G06F 3/0484 20060101
G06F003/0484 |
Claims
1-27. (canceled)
28. A method for processing a request that comprises context
information received via a user interface to generate a
context-specific report by a natural language generation system,
the method comprising: converting, by a processor, the context
information into a query to retrieve relevant data from a data
repository; generating a reduced data set from the data repository,
wherein the reduced data set corresponds to data received in
response to the query; and generating, by a natural language
generation system that is configured to execute on a processor, a
context-specific report based on the reduced data set, wherein the
context-specific report at least one of linguistically or visually
expresses at least a portion of the data set.
29. The method according to claim 28, wherein the context-specific
report includes at least one of natural language text and graphic
displays.
30. The method according to claim 28, wherein the context
information comprises at least one selected from the group
consisting of: a subject matter constraint, a time constraint, and
a length constraint.
31. The method according to claim 28, wherein the context
information comprises abstractions of one or more of the attributes
of a data repository.
32. The method according to claim 28, wherein the context
information is associated with more than one person.
33. The method according to claim 28, further comprising:
displaying the context-specific report; and generating additional
reduced data sets based on the context information, wherein
additional reporting data corresponding to the additional reduced
data sets is viewable based on interaction with the displayed
context-specific report.
34. The method according to claim 33, wherein the interaction with
the displayed context-specific report comprises at least one
selected from the group consisting of: a mouse-over of an element
of the context-specific report and selection of a hyperlinked
portion of the context-specific report.
35. The method according to claim 33, wherein the additional
reporting data comprises a pop-out annotation of graphical content,
additional detail regarding a reduced data set in the
context-specific report, preview information corresponding to a
reduced data set e in the context-specific report, and
context-sensitive information generated based on a set of
information previously presented with the context-specific
report.
36. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one
memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and
the computer program code configured to, with the at least one
processor, cause the apparatus to: receive context information via
a user interface; convert, by a processor, the context information
into a query to retrieve relevant data from a data repository;
generate a reduced data set from the data repository, wherein the
reduced data set corresponds to data received in response to the
query; and generate, by a natural language generation system that
is configured to execute on the processor, a context-specific
report based on the reduced data set, wherein the context-specific
report at least one of linguistically or visually expresses at
least a portion of the data set.
37. The apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the
context-specific report includes at least one of natural language
text and graphic displays.
38. The apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the context
information comprises at least one selected from the group
consisting of: a subject matter constraint, a time constraint, and
a length constraint.
39. The apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the context
information comprises abstractions of one or more of the attributes
of the data repository.
40. The apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the context
information is associated with more than one person.
41. The apparatus according to claim 36, wherein the at least one
memory and the computer program code are further configured to,
with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: display
the context-specific report; and generate additional reduced data
sets based on the context information, wherein additional reporting
data corresponding to the additional reduced data sets is viewable
based on interaction with the displayed context-specific
report.
42. The apparatus according to claim 41, wherein the interaction
with the displayed context-specific report comprises at least one
selected from the group consisting of: a mouse-over of an element
of the context-specific report and selection of a hyperlinked
portion of the context-specific report.
43. The apparatus according to claim 41, wherein the additional
reporting data comprises a pop-out annotation of graphical content,
additional detail regarding a reduced data set in the
context-specific report, preview information corresponding to a
reduced data set in the context-specific report, and
context-sensitive information generated based on a set of
information previously presented with the context-specific
report.
44. A computer program product comprising at least one
computer-readable non-transitory memory medium having program code
instructions stored thereon, the program code instructions, when
executed by an apparatus, causing the apparatus to: receive context
information via a user interface; convert, by a processor, the
context information into a query to retrieve relevant data from a
data repository; generate a reduced data set from the data
repository, wherein the reduced data set corresponds to data
received in response to the query; and generate, by a natural
language generation system that is configured to execute on the
processor, a context-specific report based on the reduced data set,
wherein the context-specific report at least one of linguistically
or visually expresses at least a portion of the data set.
45. The computer program product according to claim 44, wherein the
context-specific report includes at least one of natural language
text and graphic displays.
46. The computer program product according to claim 44, wherein the
context information comprises at least one selected from the group
consisting of: a subject matter constraint, a time constraint, and
a length constraint.
47. The computer program product according to claim 44, wherein the
context information comprises abstractions of one or more of the
attributes of the data repository.
48. The computer program product according to claim 44, wherein the
context information is associated with more than one person.
49. The computer program product according to claim 44, wherein the
program code instructions, when executed by the apparatus, further
causes the apparatus to: display the context-specific report; and
generate additional reduced data sets based on the context
information, wherein additional reporting data corresponding to the
additional reduced data sets is viewable based on interaction with
the displayed context-specific report.
50. The computer program product according to claim 49, wherein the
interaction with the displayed context-specific report comprises at
least one selected from the group consisting of: a mouse-over of an
element of the context-specific report and selection of a
hyperlinked portion of the context-specific report.
51. The computer program product according to claim 49, wherein the
additional reporting data comprises a pop-out annotation of
graphical content, additional detail regarding a reduced data set
in the context-specific report, preview information corresponding
to a reduced data set in the context-specific report, and
context-sensitive information generated based on a set of
information previously presented with the context-specific report.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.
No. 14/027,684, filed Sep. 16, 2013, which is hereby incorporated
herein in its entirety by reference.
TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD
[0002] Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to
natural language generation technologies and, more particularly,
relate to a method, apparatus, and computer program product for
generating reports based on context derived from user interaction
with an interface.
BACKGROUND
[0003] Natural language generation (NLG) is sometimes referred to
as a subfield of artificial intelligence and computational
linguistics that focuses on the production of understandable texts
in English or other understandable language. In some examples, a
natural language generation (NLG) system is configured to transform
raw input data that is expressed in a non-linguistic format into a
format that can be expressed linguistically, such as through the
use of natural language (e.g., the conversion from data to text).
In some cases the data is high frequency numerical data. For
example, raw input data may take the form of a value of a stock
market index over time and, as such, the raw input data may include
data that is suggestive of a time, a duration, a value and/or the
like. Other examples, may include the generation of textual weather
forecasts base on numerical weather prediction data. Therefore, an
NLG system may be configured to input the raw input data and output
text that linguistically describes the value of the stock market
index; for example, "securities markets rose steadily through most
of the morning, before sliding downhill late in the day."
Importantly, for use in an NLG system, data must be analysed and
interpreted in a way in which the analysis and interpretation can
be linguistically communicated. For example, data that indicates
the price of a stock market rising may be represent linguistically
as rising, spiking or the like. A human may then make decisions
based on how that human interprets rising versus spiking.
[0004] Data that is input into a NLG system may be provided in, for
example, a recurrent formal structure. The recurrent formal
structure may comprise a plurality of individual fields and defined
relationships between the plurality of individual fields. For
example, the input data may be contained in a spreadsheet or
database, presented in a tabulated log message or other defined
structure, encoded in a `knowledge representation` such as the
resource description framework (RDF) triples that make up the
Semantic Web and/or the like. In some examples, the data may
include numerical content, symbolic content or the like. Symbolic
content may include, but is not limited to, alphanumeric and other
non-numeric character sequences in any character encoding, used to
represent arbitrary elements of information. In some examples, the
output of the NLG system is text in a natural language (e.g.
English, Japanese or Swahili), but may also be in the form of
synthesized speech.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0005] In some example embodiments, a computer implemented method
is disclosed herein that includes receiving context information,
generating a set of messages based on the context information, and
generating, by a processor, a context-specific report based on the
set of messages and the relationship between them. In this regard,
the context-specific report may include at least one of natural
language text and graphic displays. Additionally or alternatively,
the context information comprises at least one selected from the
group consisting of: a subject matter constraint, a time
constraint, and a length constraint. Additionally or alternatively,
the context information is associated with more than one person.
Additionally or alternatively, the context information may include
abstractions of one or more of the attributes of the data
repository. Additionally or alternatively, the context information
is received via a user interface.
[0006] In one embodiment, the method includes displaying the
context-specific report, and generating additional messages based
on the context information, wherein additional reporting data
corresponding to the additional messages is viewable based on
interaction with the displayed context-specific report. In this
regard, the interaction with the displayed context-specific report
may include at least one selected from the group consisting of: a
mouse-over of an element of the context-specific report and
selection of a hyperlinked portion of the context-specific report.
Moreover, the additional reporting data may include a pop-out
annotation of graphical content, additional detail regarding a
message in the context-specific report, preview information
corresponding to a message in the context-specific report, and
context-sensitive information generated based on a set of
information previously presented with the context-specific
report.
[0007] In some example embodiments, an apparatus is disclosed
herein that includes at least one processor and at least one memory
including computer program code, the at least one memory and the
computer program code configured to, with the at least one
processor, cause the apparatus to receive context information,
generate a set of messages based on the context information and
generate a context-specific report based on the set of messages and
the relationship between them. In this regard, the context-specific
report may include at least one of natural language text and
graphic displays. Additionally or alternatively, the context
information comprises at least one selected from the group
consisting of: a subject matter constraint, a time constraint, and
a length constraint. Additionally or alternatively, the context
information is associated with more than one person. Additionally
or alternatively, the context information may include abstractions
of one or more of the attributes of the data repository.
Additionally or alternatively, the context information is received
via a user interface.
[0008] In one embodiment, the at least one memory and the computer
program code are further configured to, with the at least one
processor, cause the apparatus to display the context-specific
report, and generate additional messages based on the context
information, wherein additional reporting data corresponding to the
additional messages is viewable based on interaction with the
displayed context-specific report. In this regard, the interaction
with the displayed context-specific report may include at least one
selected from the group consisting of: a mouse-over of an element
of the context-specific report and selection of a hyperlinked
portion of the context-specific report. Moreover, the additional
reporting data may include a pop-out annotation of graphical
content, additional detail regarding a message in the
context-specific report, preview information corresponding to a
message in the context-specific report, and context-sensitive
information generated based on a set of information previously
presented with the context-specific report.
[0009] In some example embodiments, a computer program product is
disclosed herein that includes at least one computer-readable
non-transitory memory medium having program code instructions
stored thereon, the program code instructions, when executed by an
apparatus, cause the apparatus to receive context information,
generate a set of messages based on the context information, and
generate a context-specific report based on the set of messages and
the relationship between them. In this regard, the context-specific
report may include at least one of natural language text and
graphic displays. Additionally or alternatively, the context
information comprises at least one selected from the group
consisting of: a subject matter constraint, a time constraint, and
a length constraint. Additionally or alternatively, the context
information is associated with more than one person. Additionally
or alternatively, the context information may include abstractions
of one or more of the attributes of the data repository.
Additionally or alternatively, the context information is received
via a user interface.
[0010] In one embodiment, wherein the program code instructions,
when executed by the apparatus, further causes the apparatus to
display the context-specific report, and generate additional
messages based on the context information, wherein additional
reporting data corresponding to the additional messages is viewable
based on interaction with the displayed context-specific report. In
this regard, the interaction with the displayed context-specific
report may include at least one selected from the group consisting
of: a mouse-over of an element of the context-specific report and
selection of a hyperlinked portion of the context-specific report.
Moreover, the additional reporting data may include a pop-out
annotation of graphical content, additional detail regarding a
message in the context-specific report, preview information
corresponding to a message in the context-specific report, and
context-sensitive information generated based on a set of
information previously presented with the context-specific
report.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] Having thus described embodiments of the invention in
general terms, reference will now be made to the accompanying
drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and
wherein:
[0012] FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a context-specific
report generation environment that may benefit from some example
embodiments of the present invention;
[0013] FIG. 2 illustrates an example document plan tree and a text
specification in accordance with some example embodiments of the
present invention;
[0014] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an apparatus that
embodies an context-specific report generation environment in
accordance with some example embodiments of the present
invention;
[0015] FIGS. 4a-e illustrate example context-specific reports, in
accordance with some example embodiments of the present invention;
and
[0016] FIGS. 5-8 illustrate flowcharts that may be performed by an
interactive report generation environment in accordance with some
example embodiments of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] Example embodiments will now be described more fully
hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
some, but not all embodiments are shown. Indeed, the embodiments
may take many different forms and should not be construed as
limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these
embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy
applicable legal requirements. Like reference numerals refer to
like elements throughout. The terms "data," "content,"
"information," and similar terms may be used interchangeably,
according to some example embodiments, to refer to data capable of
being transmitted, received, operated on, and/or stored. Moreover,
the term "exemplary", as may be used herein, is not provided to
convey any qualitative assessment, but instead merely to convey an
illustration of an example. Thus, use of any such terms should not
be taken to limit the spirit and scope of embodiments of the
present invention.
Overview
[0018] Natural language generation systems carry the promise of
generating understandable and accurate reports based purely upon a
set of relevant data, without the need for human action. These
reports may, in some cases, be used to understand the real-world
implications of data that otherwise may not be meaningful to many
audiences. In this regard, reports generated via NLG systems may be
as accurate as those developed by human analysts, and in many cases
may be generated far more quickly. Accordingly, a great deal of
efficiency may be realized through the use of NLG systems to
develop reports for human consumption, provided that the NLG system
is able to match the quality of the human analyst.
[0019] In this regard, for some applications, the total volume of
data to be analyzed can seem prohibitive, and can significantly
impact the prescriptive value of a generated report, whether the
report is generated by a human or by an NLG system. Consider, for
example, the case of financial market reporting. Given the size of
the global financial markets, documenting every trade of a stock,
bond, commodity, or other security can be an enormous task.
Gathering meaningful information from such vast quantities of data
is often therefore difficult.
[0020] Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention improve
upon existing mechanisms for NLG report generation by enabling a
user to specify the focus of any individual report prior to its
generation. For instance, a user may specify contextual information
that defines features upon which to base the report, such as by
defining the various types of data to include in the report or by
identifying a relevant time frame for the report or the like.
Additionally or alternatively, many other types of user context
descriptors (e.g., report length, interactivity of the report,
occurrence of graphics versus text in report, or the like) may be
considered in some embodiments of the present invention. By
developing each report based on the specific context specified by a
user, each report can be optimally configured for its intended
viewer to thus maximally leverage the value of the underlying data,
while avoiding the performance of report generation for which there
is no user interest.
Natural Language Generation System
[0021] FIG. 1 is an example block diagram of example components of
an example environment 100 within which user context information
may be retrieved. In some example embodiments, environment 100
comprises a context reception system 102, a data analysis system
104, a natural language generation system 106 and one or more data
sources, such as, but not limited to, one or more of raw input data
110, historical data 112, a domain model 114 and/or an event log
116. The context reception system 102, the data analysis system
104, and/or the natural language generation system 106 make take
the form of, for example, a code module, a component, circuitry
and/or the like. The components of environment 100 are configured
to provide various logic (e.g. code, instructions, functions,
routines and/or the like) and/or services related to the generation
of context-specific reports. In particular, components of the
environment 100 are operable to linguistically describe requested
amounts of data at a level of abstraction that allows for an
operator to understand trends from the underlying data that may
provide unique market insights or suggest further
investigation.
[0022] In some example embodiments, the context receiving system
102 may be configured to receive relevant context information from
the user via user interface or the like. This interface may define
a feature space to organize reports. In the financial market
reporting example above, there may be features such as asset-class,
currency and time frame. In some embodiments, these features may be
offered as user choices in the interface for selecting a report.
See FIG. 4a, items 402, 404, and 406, showing selectable fields for
specifying asset-class, currency, and timeframe, respectively. In
this regard, the user's selection may be converted by the system
into an SQL query (or other query used to receive a set of data
from a data repository) to retrieve the relevant data. However, by
offering this feature, in one embodiment it may be necessary to
receive user selection of all such fields in order to display a
report.
[0023] To be clear, the query may retrieve a subset of data (e.g.,
a data set) from within a data repository that corresponds to the
contextual information received. This data set provides a
particular focus of an output text. Accordingly, a specific
configuration of feature values instructs the system to display the
required report. For example, receiving the feature values {IRD,
G4, 2013} prompts the system to display a report for the interest
rate trades in G4 currency for 2013. In some embodiments, however,
if a user does not specify a value for all features that may be
queried, then a default value is chosen for the unspecified
feature. For example, receiving the feature values {IRD, 2013} may
prompt the system to display a report for the interest rate trades
in all currencies for 2013. The main function of the features in
the interface is to enable user selection of a context for a
requested report.
[0024] In addition to their function in report selection, these
features also play a role in reducing the set of data required from
the underlying data repository. For example, the feature values
{IRD, G4, 2013} are used as part of the SQL query for retrieving
the required data to generate the required report. It is this
function of the features that is important from the NLG
perspective. In the absence of these features, NLG reports may have
to be produced for each and every SQL query on the underlying
repository, the entire data repository, may be unrelated to what a
user wants, etc. which can be very hard and/or time consuming. By
only generating reports for the combination of context features
received from the user interface, the system only produces a subset
of these reports. As a result, the system is able to present the
information desired by a user while at the same time avoiding the
performance of work that may not be relevant to the user.
[0025] In some example embodiments, the data analysis system 104
may be operable to analyze data retrieved from the data repository
as a result of the query) to determine one or more linguistically
describable trends, occurrences or the like in the data. In some
example embodiments, the receipt or input of the one or more data
feeds may occur in response to a user's choice of context
information above, which may be indicated, in one example, by
selection of a category of data (e.g., types of currency of
transactions, types of transactions, etc.), a time frame for which
to report, or the like. In other words, in some example
embodiments, the context receiving system 102, the data analysis
system 104, the referenced user interface module 232 or the like
may function as or otherwise embody the context reception system
102 and may operate via user-fillable fields in a user
interface.
[0026] The retrieved data (e.g., the raw data may include data such
as, but not limited to, time series data that captures variations
across time (e.g. profits, rainfall amounts, temperature or the
like), spatial data that indicates variation across location (e.g.
rainfall in different regions), or spatial-temporal data that
combines both time series data and spatial data (e.g. rainfall
across time in different geographical output areas)). The retrieved
data may be provided in the form of numeric values for specific
parameters across time and space, but the raw input data may also
contain alphanumeric symbols, such as the RDF notation used in the
semantic web, or as the content of database fields. As is described
herein, the retrieved data is characterized as one or more data
feeds. For example, one data feed may be related to the price of a
trade for a particular commodity.
[0027] In some example embodiments, the data analysis system 104 or
the user interface module 232 is further configured to determine a
main or primary data feed. In some examples, a main or primary data
feed may be selected based on a selection by a user, via the user
interface, of one or more contextual descriptors, such as a
specific currency or set of currencies, or a specific timeframe
within which to analyze the data. In some cases, the primary data
feed is generally related to, for example, the raw input data
and/or data feed relevant to the selected contextual
descriptors.
[0028] In some example embodiments, the data analysis system 104 is
configured to detect patterns and trends in the one or more data
feeds of the retrieved data or interested related data to provide a
set of abstractions (e.g., messages). For example, a time-series
dataset may contain tens of thousands of individual records
describing the temperature at various time points on a component
piece of machinery over the course of a day with a sample once
every two or three seconds. Trend analysis may then be used to
identify that the temperature changes in a characteristic way
throughout certain parts of the day. As such, the trend analysis is
configured to abstract those changes over time into an abstraction
that is representative of the change over time.
[0029] In some example embodiments, the data analysis system 104
may be configured to fit a piecewise linear model to the data
received in the primary data feed, related data feed or the like.
The fitting of the piecewise linear model may include filtering in
some examples. For each trend in the raw input data, the data
analysis system 104 may determine a start and/or end time values,
qualitative direction (e.g. up, down, steady), qualitative
stability (e.g. stable, unstable), threshold status (e.g. normal,
high, low, unknown at start, end of trend and/or the like). The
signal analysis controller 240 may be configured to perform the
fitting of the piecewise linear model for one or more time scales;
for example, over a short term (e.g. 6 hours) if selected via the
context reception system 102. A longer time period (e.g. 2 months)
may also be analyzed, if implicated by the user-specified context.
In some examples, the longer time period may ignore equipment off
periods and/or the like.
[0030] The data analysis system 104 may alternatively or
additionally then identify trends, spikes, steps, oscillations or
other patterns in the data feeds to generate abstractions that
summarize the patterns determined in the primary data feed and/or
the other related data feeds.
[0031] In some example embodiments, a natural language generation
system, such as natural language generation system 106, is
configured to generate phrases, sentences, text or the like which
may take the form of natural language text. The natural language
generation system 106 comprises a document planner 130, a
microplanner 132 and/or a realizer 134. Other natural language
generation systems may be used in some example embodiments, such as
a natural language generation pipeline as described in Building
Natural Language Generation Systems by Ehud Reiter and Robert Dale,
Cambridge University Press (2000), which is incorporated by
reference in its entirety herein.
[0032] In some examples, natural language generation system 106 may
be configured to populate or otherwise instantiate one or more
messages based on data or information in the primary data feed, the
one or more related data feeds, the historical data, the contextual
data feed , one or more events and/or the like. In some examples,
messages are language independent data structures that correspond
to informational elements in a text and/or collect together
underling data in such a way that the underlying data can be
linguistically expressed. In some examples, messages are created
based on a requirements analysis as to what is to be communicated
for a particular scenario (e.g. for a particular domain). A message
typically corresponds to a fact about the underlying data (for
example, the existence of some observed event) that could be
expressed via a simple sentence (although it may ultimately be
realized by some other linguistic means). For example, to
linguistically describe wind, a user may want to know a speed, a
direction, a time period or the like, but also the user wants to
know changes in speed over time, warm or cold fronts, geographic
areas and or the like. In some cases, users do not even want to
know wind speed; they simply want an indication of a dangerous wind
condition. Thus, a message related to wind speed may include fields
to be populated by data related to the speed, direction, time
period or the like, and may have other fields related to different
time points, front information or the like. The mere fact that wind
exists may be found in the data, but to linguistically describe
"light wind" or "gusts" different data interpretation must be
undertaken as is described herein.
[0033] In some examples, a message is created by the natural
language generation system 106 in an instance in which the data in
the one or more data feeds warrants the construction of such a
message. For example, a wind message would only be constructed in
an instance in which wind data was present in the raw input data.
Alternatively or additionally, while messages may correspond
directly to observations taken from the raw data input, others,
however, may be derived from the observations by means of a process
of inference. For example, the presence of rain may be indicative
of other conditions, such as the potential for snow at some
temperatures. Alternatively or additionally, in some example
embodiments, the natural language generation system 106 may embody
all or portions of the data analysis system 104.
[0034] The concepts and relationships that make up messages may be
drawn from an ontology (e.g. a domain model) that formally
represents knowledge about the application scenario. In this
regard, the domain model may be based on context provided by a user
via context receiving system 102. For example, message structures
may be defined by the domain model 114 based on a particular
context specification and/or the raw input data, such as but not
limited to the primary and/or related data feeds. Messages may also
be derived from another data structure, may otherwise be user
defined and/or the like. Each type of message may also be
represented by a message template, which expresses a relationship
between instances of a number of concepts; the message template
contains slots which may be filled in, or instantiated, using
particular values that are derived from the raw input data.
[0035] As such, the natural language generation system 106 is
configured to instantiate a plurality of messages based on the one
or more data feeds, and may also consider context information
received from context receiving system 102. In order to determine
the one or more messages, the importance level of each of the
messages and relationships between the messages, the natural
language generation system 106 may be configured to access the
domain model 114 directly or indirectly via the data analysis
system 104 or the like. The domain model 114 may contain
information related to a particular domain or industry, and may be
altered based on the information received from context receiving
system 102. For instance, if a user selects a timeframe beginning
on 2010, information occurring prior to the year 2010 may be
excluded from consideration, and accordingly the domain model 114
may only contain information related to the particular domain or
industry that occurs on or after the year 2010. In addition, in
some examples, the domain model 114 may provide importance levels,
single data feed limits related to normal behaviors in a domain
(e.g. normal ranges), information related to anomalous behaviors
and/or the like. In other examples, the domain model 114 may
describe relationships between various events and/or phenomena in
multiple data feeds. For example in a weather domain, a domain
model may indicate or otherwise instantiate an extreme weather
message in an instance in which wind speeds that are related to
hurricane type events or temperatures that may cause harm to humans
or other animals or may cause damage or interference to shipping
are present in the data. The extreme weather message may then be
labeled as important, whereas typical temperatures or a typical
wind message may not be marked as important in some examples.
Alternatively or additionally, the domain model 114 may be
configured to contain or otherwise have access to the diagnostic
model.
[0036] In some example embodiments, the natural language generation
system 106 may be configured to annotate messages with an
indication of their relative importance; this information can be
used in subsequent processing steps or by the natural language
generation system 106 to make decisions about which information
should be conveyed and which information may be suppressed, such as
by using the domain model 114. The natural language generation
system 106 may assign an importance level to the one or more
messages based on the pattern itself (e.g. magnitude, duration,
rate of change or the like), defined constraints (e.g. defined
thresholds, constraints or tolerances), temporal relationships
between the pattern in the primary data feed and patterns in other
related data feeds and/or the like. For example, a heart rate over
170 beats per minute, or 100 mile per hour winds, may be assigned a
high level of importance. In some examples, messages that describe
other patterns and/or constraints may be defined by the domain
model 114. Alternatively or additionally, the natural language
generation system 106 may also be configured to annotate messages
with information about how they are related to each other; for
example, the natural language generation system 106 might indicate
that an event described in one message is assumed to have been
caused by the event described in another message.
[0037] Using the importance level, the natural language generation
system 106 may assign certain ones of the messages that describe or
are otherwise are instantiated with patterns or other data in the
primary data feed as including key events. A key event may be
selected or otherwise identified based on a pre-determined
importance level threshold, such as a threshold defined by a user,
a constraint defined by the domain model 114, or the like.
Alternatively or additionally, key events may be selected or
otherwise identified based on those patterns in the primary data
feed with the highest level of importance, those patterns that
exceed or otherwise satisfy the pre-determined importance level
threshold and/or the like. For example, a domain model or user
preference may indicate that any messages having wind readings over
50 miles per hour may be designated as key events, whereas in other
examples only a message with highest wind reading over a defined
time period may be a determined to include a key event. In further
examples, the importance level determination may be performed over
a plurality of time scales that may be user defined, defined by the
domain model or the like (e.g., one hour, one day, one week, one
month and/or the like).
[0038] In some example embodiments, the natural language generation
system 106 may also be configured to determine the importance of
messages that describe patterns or events detected in one or more
secondary or related data feeds. In some examples, the natural
language generation system 106 may determine one or more messages
that describe patterns or events in the related data feeds that
overlap time-wise or occur within the same time period as the
patterns in the primary data feed. For example, during the same
time period as rain is detected, another data feed may detect
temperature falling below the freezing point. The natural language
generation system 106 may then mark the one or more messages that
describe patterns or events in the related channels as important,
expected, unexpected or as having or not having some other property
based on the domain model 114. For example, the domain model may
suggest that the one or more patterns in the related data feed were
expected to rise as they did in the primary channel. By way of
example, as winds are rising, a wave height may then be expected to
rise. In other cases, the behavior of the one or more related
channels may be unexpected or may be anomalous when compared to the
behavior of the primary data feed.
[0039] The one or more messages may be marked as including
significant events based on the importance level, domain model 114,
constraints, user settings or the like. For example, messages that
include patterns or events in the related data feed that have an
importance level above a predetermined threshold defined by the
domain model 114, a user or the like, and may be marked as
including significant events. In some example embodiments, messages
including unexpected patterns or messages may also be categorized
as significant events as they are suggestive of a particular
condition or fault. Other messages including patterns or events may
be determined to be significant events based on one or more
constraints on channel value (e.g. expected range of values or the
like), data anomalies, patterns marked as neither expected or
unexpected that satisfy an importance level, and/or the like.
[0040] In some example embodiments, the natural language generation
system 106 may also be configured to determine the importance of
messages built or otherwise instantiated using historical data,
such as historical data 112, background information, event data,
and/or the like. For example, historical data may contain
information related to a previously selected user context and the
actions taken or a result. Historical data may also provide
indicators of the validity of a user selection and/or provide
additional information that may provide additional situational
awareness.
[0041] In further example embodiments, the natural language
generation system 106 may be configured to generate one or more
messages based on determined or otherwise inferred events from the
one or more data feeds, historical data, event data and/or the
like. Events may include specific activities that may influence the
one or more key events and/or may have caused the one or more
significant events. In some examples, the one or more events may be
inferred based in context with the one or more patterns in the
primary and/or related data feeds. Alternatively or additionally
events may be provided as a separate channel, such as a contextual
data feed, in the raw input data 110, the event log 116 or may be
provided directly to the natural language generation system 106.
Alternatively or additionally, one or more messages may be
generated based on the contextual data feed.
[0042] In some examples, the data analysis system 104, the data
analysis system 104 or the like may receive a request for a report
via a user interface that describes heart rate for a patient
between times points 1 and 24. As a result of a query to a data
repository raw input data may be received, such as the data in the
following table, that illustrates a primary data feed (e.g. heart
rate) and a related data feed (e.g. respiration rate):
TABLE-US-00001 Heart Respiration Time Rate Rate 1 68 14 2 72 15 3
70 14 4 70 14 5 69 16 6 72 15 7 73 16 8 68 13 9 70 14 10 71 15 11
90 14 12 110 14 13 118 14 14 116 15 15 105 15 16 92 14 17 86 13 18
80 14 19 75 14 20 72 15 21 70 14 22 71 13 23 69 13 24 71 14
[0043] As is demonstrated by the raw input data in the table above,
heart rate went above 115 beats per minute (bpm) at time point 13.
Based on the request for heart rate information, received from a
user (via context reception system 102) the primary data feed is
the heart rate data feed, in some examples. In some example
embodiments, the data analysis system 104 may abstract or otherwise
identify the rapid change of heart rate between time point 10 and
time point 11 lasting to time point 15 for use by the natural
language generation system 106.
[0044] The data analysis system 104 may also determine whether a
secondary or related data feed (e.g. respiration rate) has a
pattern (e.g. no change when a change is generally expected) in a
corresponding time period. In some examples, the corresponding time
period may be the same time period or may be a later time period
when compared to the time period of the key events. Further, the
corresponding time period may, in some examples, be defined by a
domain model, such as domain model 114. In some example
embodiments, the data analysis system 104 may abstract or otherwise
identify the relatively flat and/or steady respiration rate between
time point 10 and time point 15 for use by the natural language
generation system 106.
[0045] In some example embodiments, the natural language generation
system 106 is configured to generate one or more messages based on
the raw input data in the one or more data feeds. Using the heart
rate example, a message may include portions of the raw input data,
to include abstractions of the data, but may also include
additional distinctions necessary for the generation of text as the
raw input data is likely to be insufficient for such a purpose. For
example, a HeartRateSpike message may be instantiated using the raw
input data and such a message may include: a time and relative
variation in terms of heart rate change or peak heart rate, a time
period and a direction. In some examples, another message may be
generated on related channels, historic data, events and/or the
like. In some examples, the HeartRateSpike message may be related
to an Alert Message that contains information relating to the alert
itself. For example, in an instance in which caffeine was applied
prior to the heart rate spike, a message may be generated to
identify such an event. Such a message may be an Event message that
is instantiated with an event time and an event description, such
as from the event log 116; for example, a message that indicates
that caffeine had been orally administered prior to the spike in
heart rate. Other messages such as RespirationRate (e.g.
respiration rate stable =yes), HeartRateAlertHistorical (e.g.
previous alert condition quantity=2, time=yesterday),
HeartRateHistorical (e.g. heart rate trend=no change, time
period=10 days) may be instantiated to include information about
the related data feeds and/or historical data. Alternatively or
additionally, the natural language generation system 106, the
document planner 130 and/or the like may be configured to generate
the one or more messages.
[0046] The document planner 130 is configured to input the one or
more messages that are generated and/or instantiated by the natural
language generation system 106. The document planner 130 is further
configured to determine how to arrange those messages to describe
the patterns in the one or more data feeds derived from the raw
input data. The document planner 130 may comprise a content
determination process that is configured to select the
messages.
[0047] In some example embodiments, a document plan or the content
of the document plan may be set as a function of the user input.
For example, a user input of commodities may have a different
document plan when compared with a user input of interest rate
swaps. As such, based on the focus (e.g., user selection) the
system may define the document plan. Alternatively or additionally,
a single document plan may be used and populated based on the
messages that are created.
[0048] The document planner 130 may also comprise a structuring
process that determines the order of messages to be included in a
natural language text. In some example embodiments, the document
planner 130 may access one or more text schemas for the purposes of
content determination and document structuring. A text schema is a
rule set that defines the order in which a number of messages are
to be presented in a document. For example, an event message (e.g.
medication injection) may be described prior to a key event message
(e.g. rise in heart rate). In other examples, a significant event
message (e.g. falling respiration rate) may be described after, but
in relation to, a key event message (e.g. rise in heart rate). By
way of further example a document plan may include, but is not
limited to, an AlertMessage, a HeartRateSpike message and then a
RespirationRate message. An Event message, HeartRateAlertHistorical
message and HeartRateHistorical message may then follow in the
example document plan.
[0049] The output of the document planner 130 may be a
tree-structured object or other data structure that is referred to
as a document plan. In an instance in which a tree-structured
object is chosen for the document plan, the leaf nodes of the tree
may contain the messages, and the intermediate nodes of the tree
structure object may be configured to indicate how the subordinate
nodes are related (e.g. elaboration, consequence, contrast and/or
the like) to each other. A sample document plan may include, but is
not limited to, document plan 250 of FIG. 2. Document plan 250 may
include but is not limited to one or more messages, such as message
252.
[0050] In some example embodiments, the microplanner 132 is
configured to modify a document plan, to create a text
specification for input into a realizer. As is shown in some
examples, a document plan may contain one or more leaf nodes that
contain messages. An example message may comprise a plurality of
slots that contain a named attribute and a value (e.g. channel and
"HeartRate"). A message may also comprise slots that contain a
named attribute and a set of named attributes and their values.
Other messages may include additional named attributes and
values.
[0051] Initially and in some example embodiments, the text
specification may include a tree structure that matches or is
otherwise structured in the same or similar manner as a document
plan tree. In some examples, one or more messages may be combined
(e.g. one or more document plan nodes) to form a single phrase
specification (e.g. to form a single text specification node). Each
leaf node of a text specification may include a phrase
specification with one or more empty elements. The microplanner 132
may be configured to populate those element values by applying
genre parameters, lexicalization rules, reference rules,
aggregation rules and the like.
[0052] In some example embodiments, the microplanner 132 may be
configured to input a series of genre parameters that are
representative of genre conventions. Genre conventions are rules
about the use of language which apply throughout texts in that
particular genre. In some examples, however, the rules may be
overridden by a user, by lexicalization rules and/or the like. The
genre conventions specify default behavior for the realizer so that
these aspects of language use do not have to continually
re-specified by a user. Examples of genre parameters include, but
are not limited to, the particular tense (e.g. past, present or
future) that should be used consistently throughout the text to be
generated; a convention on the use of pronouns in the text to be
generated; and/or a convention as to whether or not abbreviated
names are to be used in the text to be generated. Alternatively or
additionally, other elements of the phrase specification may be set
by the one or more genre conventions.
[0053] Genre conventions may be applied by the microplanner 132 as
a first step in the initialization of the phrase specification that
corresponds to an individual message. In such a case, subsequently
applied lexicalization rules may override the results of
application of the genre parameters. Alternatively or additionally,
genre parameters may be applied by the microplanner 132 once all
the lexicalization rules have been applied to a given message. In
such a case, the genre parameters are configured to populate the
elements of the phrase specification that have not been specified
or otherwise populated by the lexicalization rules. For example, a
tense equal to past, may be set by genre parameter and/or a
lexicalization rule.
[0054] In additional example embodiments, one or more
lexicalization rules may be input. Lexicalization rules are rules
that determine how the content of individual messages may be mapped
into phrase specifications. In some examples, lexicalization rules
may include, but are not limited to, message-level rules that are
configured to apply to messages as a whole. Lexicalization rules
may also be configured to apply to one or more slots within each
message. For example, message-level rules may specify how the
overall form of a phrase is to be constructed from the contents of
a message (e.g. heart rate is rising, falling or staying steady).
Slot-level rules may specify how specific kinds of entities that
are present in a message should be described (e.g. heart rate is
expressed via a prepositional phrase such as "to 118 bpm") or
otherwise referred to (e.g. refer to a machine by its machine ID or
full machine title). For example a message-level rule may map a
name value and high rate value from a message to a phrase
specification.
[0055] For a given domain, there may be at least one message-level
lexicalization rule for each type of message in the ontology for
that domain that may be applied b. The one or more lexicalization
rules for a message type define one or more constraints that are
configured to test the message itself, the discourse model (e.g. a
model that is configured to store the relevant aspects of the
discourse context, such as a list of entities mentioned in the text
so far, and the lexicalization of the previous sentence in a text),
parameters set by the document planner 130 and/or the genre
parameters. In an instance in which the one or more lexicalization
rules matches the constraints, a default lexicalization rule may be
defined for each message type and/or slot type.
[0056] In one example, a message-level rule may be configured to
specify a canned text string to be used whenever a message of the
specified type is received as input. For example, a GREETING
message might result in the simple text string "Hello friend".
Message-level lexicalization rules may also be configured to assign
the contents of the slots of a message to particular syntactic
constituents (e.g. a word or group of words that function as a
single unit, such as a noun phrase, a verb phrase, a prepositional
phrase or the like, within a hierarchical structure) in a sentence
as represented by a phrase specification. For example, a
lexicalization rule, or the one or more lexicalization rules, may
be configured to specify the verb to be used to express a
particular type of message, and slots in the message might be
assigned to the subject and object positions in the sentence. In
some examples, a user may allocate information in the one or more
slots of a message to the elements of a phrase specification by
using the following non-exhaustive list of syntactic constituents,
subject: typically the first position in the sentence; verb: the
main action described in the sentence; object: typically the
position following the verb; indirectobject: used in those cases
where a verb has three arguments, as in "John gave the cat a bath";
frontmodifier: used to provide information that will be placed at
the beginning of the sentence, as in "yesterday, John gave the cat
a bath"; premodifier: used to provide information that will be
placed immediately in front of the verb, as in "John reluctantly
gave the cat a bath"; postmodifier: used to provide information
that will be placed immediately after the object, as in "John took
a bus to the city" and/or the like. Alternatively or additionally,
a slot-level rule may be configured to specify a canned text string
when a slot of a specified type is received and/or specify a slot
to be mapped to a particular syntactic constituent in a sentence as
represented by a phrase specification.
[0057] Alternatively or additionally, a message-level rule may also
specify particular syntactic features of the sentence to be
generated, such as by overriding default values for those features
either as provided by the realizer itself or by the genre
parameters. Typical features include but are not limited to tense,
which may be set to PAST, PRESENT or FUTURE; aspect, which may be
set to PERFECTIVE or PROGRESSIVE; passive, which may be set to
either TRUE or FALSE; negation and/or the like. In some example
embodiments, a slot-level rule may specify a particular feature of
a sentence to be generated, such as by overriding a default value.
Alternatively or additionally, tense and aspect may be computed,
such as by using a Reichenbachian model which is based on the time
of the message (e.g. when the event described by the message
happened), the time the text is generated, and/or a reference time.
In some examples, reference time can be computed using one or more
of the following non-exhaustive list: setting a reference time to
the time of the previous message in the text specification, setting
the reference time as the time of the first message expressed in a
current paragraph and/or the like.
[0058] In some example embodiments, the microplanner may also apply
slot-level rules. Slot-level rules may be applied to each slot in
each message to enable the slot to be mapped to an element of a
phrase specification. In some example embodiments, the
message-level rules described herein may also be expressed as
slot-level rules, allowing recursive embedding. However, in some
examples the value of the slot itself may be used to fill
corresponding element in a phrase specification.
[0059] In some examples, the microplanner is configured to
determine whether two or more phrase specifications can be combined
together linguistically to produce a more complex sentence. For
example, one or more other phrase specifications may be combined
with phrase specification to form a more complex sentence. In some
examples, a reference system is configured to determine how to
refer to an entity so that it can be unambiguously identified by
the reader. For example, in a first sentence "John Smith" may be
used where "he" or "his" may be used in subsequent sentences.
[0060] Alternatively or additionally, a slot-level rule may be
executed. In such cases, the slot-level rule may specify how the
value of the slot should be described based on the reference rules.
Possible reference rules include, but are not limited to,
StringValue: indicating that a string value associated with the
object should be used to refer to the object; NamedEntity:
indicating that a predefined reference strategy for named entities
should be used to refer to the object and may include the choice
between a full name or description, a reduced form of description,
or a pronoun, on the basis of information about the other entities
that have been referred to in the text; NumericValue: indicating
that a predefined strategy for referring to numeric values should
be used; TimeValue: indicates that a predefined reference strategy
for referring to time values should be used to refer to the object;
DurationValue: indicating that a predefined reference strategy for
referring to durations should be used to refer to the object;
EnumValue: indicating how specific values of an enumerated type
should be expressed and/or the like.
[0061] In some example embodiments, the microplanner may also use a
slot-level rule to specify content for each of a number of
syntactic constituents within a linguistic element that is to be
realized as a noun phrase. For example, the following
non-exhaustive example list of positions may be available:
determiner, specifier, noun, modifier, premodifier, postmodifier
and/or the like. In some examples, a slot-level rule may also
contain conditions that determine its applicability; amongst other
things, these may be used to determine when the rule should have a
null output, resulting in the constituent being elided in the
sentence being planned.
[0062] In some example embodiments, the microplanner may also use
one or more slot-level rules to specify syntactic features. For
example, a slot level rule may specify the following non-exhaustive
example list of syntactic features: a pronominal (e.g. force a use
of a pronoun), number (e.g. singular or plural), an indication of
definite or indefinite and/or the like.
[0063] The output of the microplanner 132, in some example
embodiments, is a tree-structured text specification whose
leaf-nodes are phrase specifications, and whose internal nodes
express rhetorical relations between the leaf nodes. A
tree-structured text specification may include, but is not limited
to text specification 260 of FIG. 2, having one or more phrase
specifications, such as phrase specification 262. A phrase
specification may correspond to a sentence or a sub-sentence
fragment (e.g. a title) and are produced from one or more messages.
A phrase specification is configured to contain one or more
syntactic constituents (e.g. subject, verb, prepositional phrase
and/or the like) and one or more syntactic features (e.g.
tense).
[0064] A realizer 134 is configured to traverse the tree-structured
text specification to express the tree-structured text
specification in natural language. The realization process that is
applied to each phrase specification in a text specification makes
use of a grammar which specifies the valid syntactic structures in
the language and further provides a way of mapping from text
specifications into the corresponding natural language sentences.
The output of the process is, in some example embodiments, a
well-formed natural language text. In some examples, the natural
language text may include embedded mark-up. The output of the
realizer 134, in some example embodiments, an output text. The
realizer may also output situational analysis text or a narrative
that is configured to describe or otherwise summarize the one or
more key events, the one or more significant events, the one or
more contextual data feed s, and/or the one or more events.
[0065] By way of example, the realizer may output the following
text in response to the text specification (e.g., originally based
on the user entered context) shown above: [0066] John Smith's heart
rate monitor sounded an alarm at 10.56 because his heart rate went
above 115 beats per minute (bpm). His respiratory rate and oxygen
saturation did not change. Caffeine, which can affect heart rate,
had been orally administered to John at 10.54. This alarm had gone
off twice yesterday, but in both cases heart rate quickly reverted
to 70 bpm. John's heart rate has not shown any long-term upward or
downward trends since he was admitted 10 days ago. John's heart
rate increase was likely caused by the administration of the
caffeine.
[0067] Alternatively or additionally, the natural language
generation system 106 may be configured to generate a graph to
display one or more key events that are detected in a data feed. In
some example embodiments, the graph may also include one or more
significant events in one or more related feeds and/or events. In
further examples, a time period or duration of the data shown in
the graph may be selected such that the displayed graph illustrates
the portion of the data feed that contains the one or more key
events. The output graph is further configured to include textual
annotations that provide a textual comment, phrase or otherwise is
configured to explain, using text, the one or more key events, the
one or more significant events and/or the events in a contextual
data feed in natural language. In further examples, the textual
annotations are generated from the raw input data and further are
designed, in some examples, to textually describe identified
patterns, anomalies and/or the context of the graph. In some
examples, a narrative (e.g. situational analysis text) may be
included with the graph that provides situational awareness or an
overview of the data/patterns displayed on and/or off of the
graph.
Example System Architecture
[0068] FIG. 3 is an example block diagram of an example computing
device for practicing embodiments of an example context sensitive
report system. In particular, FIG. 3 shows a computing system 300
that may be utilized to implement an context sensitive report
environment 100 having a context reception system 102; a data
analysis system 104; a natural language generation system 106
including, in some examples, a document planner 130, a microplanner
132 and/or a realizer 134; and/or an optional user interface (not
shown). One or more general purpose or special purpose computing
systems/devices may be used to implement the context reception
system 102, the data analysis system 104 and/or the natural
language generation system 106. In addition, the computing system
300 may comprise one or more distinct computing systems/devices and
may span distributed locations. In some example embodiments, the
context reception system 102, the data analysis system 104 and/or
the natural language generation system 106 may be configured to
operate remotely via the network 350. In some example embodiments,
a pre-processing module or other module that requires heavy
computational load may be configured to perform that computational
load and thus may be on a remote device or server. For example, the
data analysis system 104 may be accessed remotely. In some
examples, context sensitive report environment 100 may be offered
using a software as a service model. Furthermore, each block shown
may represent one or more such blocks as appropriate to a specific
example embodiment. In some cases one or more of the blocks may be
combined with other blocks. Also, the context reception system 102,
the data analysis system 104 and/or the natural language generation
system 106 may be implemented in software, hardware, firmware, or
in some combination to achieve the capabilities described
herein.
[0069] In the example embodiment shown, computing system 300
comprises a computer memory ("memory") 301, a display 302, one or
more processors 303, input/output devices 304 (e.g., keyboard,
mouse, CRT or LCD display, touch screen, gesture sensing device
and/or the like), other computer-readable media 305, and
communications interface 306. The processor 303 may, for example,
be embodied as various means including one or more microprocessors
with accompanying digital signal processor(s), one or more
processor(s) without an accompanying digital signal processor, one
or more coprocessors, one or more multi-core processors, one or
more controllers, processing circuitry, one or more computers,
various other processing elements including integrated circuits
such as, for example, an application-specific integrated circuit
(ASIC) or field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or some combination
thereof. Accordingly, although illustrated in FIG. 3 as a single
processor, in some embodiments the processor 303 comprises a
plurality of processors. The plurality of processors may be in
operative communication with each other and may be collectively
configured to perform one or more functionalities of the
user-directed reporting system as described herein.
[0070] The context reception system 102, the data analysis system
104 and/or the natural language generation system 106 are shown
residing in memory 301. The memory 301 may comprise, for example,
transitory and/or non-transitory memory, such as volatile memory,
non-volatile memory, or some combination thereof. Although
illustrated in FIG. 3 as a single memory, the memory 301 may
comprise a plurality of memories. The plurality of memories may be
embodied on a single computing device or may be distributed across
a plurality of computing devices collectively configured to
function as the context sensitive report system. In various example
embodiments, the memory 301 may comprise, for example, a hard disk,
random access memory, cache memory, flash memory, a compact disc
read only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatile disc read only memory
(DVD-ROM), an optical disc, circuitry configured to store
information, or some combination thereof.
[0071] In other embodiments, some portion of the contents, some or
all of the components of the context reception system 102, the data
analysis system 104 and/or the natural language generation system
106 may be stored on and/or transmitted over the other
computer-readable media 305. The components of the context
reception system 102, the data analysis system 104 and/or the
natural language generation system 106 preferably execute on one or
more processors 303 and are configured to generate context-relevant
reports, as described herein.
[0072] Alternatively or additionally, other code or programs 330
(e.g., an administrative interface, a Web server, and the like) and
potentially other data repositories, such as data repository 340,
also reside in the memory 301, and preferably execute on one or
more processors 303. Of note, one or more of the components in FIG.
3 may not be present in any specific implementation. For example,
some embodiments may not provide other computer readable media 305
or a display 302.
[0073] The context reception system 102, the data analysis system
104 and/or the natural language generation system 106 are further
configured to provide functions such as those described with
reference to FIG. 1. The context reception system 102, the data
analysis system 104 and/or the natural language generation system
106 may interact with the network 350, via the communications
interface 306, with remote data sources/alert systems 356 (e.g.
remote reference data, remote performance data, remote aggregation
data, remote alert systems and/or the like), third-party content
providers 354 and/or client devices 358. The network 350 may be any
combination of media (e.g., twisted pair, coaxial, fiber optic,
radio frequency), hardware (e.g., routers, switches, repeaters,
transceivers), and protocols (e.g., TCP/IP, UDP, Ethernet, Wi-Fi,
WiMAX, Bluetooth) that facilitate communication between remotely
situated humans and/or devices. In some instance the network 350
may take the form of the internet or may be embodied by a cellular
network such as an LTE based network. In this regard, the
communications interface 306 may be capable of operating with one
or more air interface standards, communication protocols,
modulation types, access types, and/or the like. The client devices
358 include desktop computing systems, notebook computers, mobile
phones, smart phones, personal digital assistants, tablets and/or
the like.
[0074] In an example embodiment, components/modules of the context
reception system 102, the data analysis system 104 and/or the
natural language generation system 106 are implemented using
standard programming techniques. For example, the context reception
system 102, the data analysis system 104 and/or the natural
language generation system 106 may be implemented as a "native"
executable running on the processor 303, along with one or more
static or dynamic libraries. In other embodiments, the context
reception system 102, the data analysis system 104 and/or the
natural language generation system 106 may be implemented as
instructions processed by a virtual machine that executes as one of
the other programs 330. In general, a range of programming
languages known in the art may be employed for implementing such
example embodiments, including representative implementations of
various programming language paradigms, including but not limited
to, object-oriented (e.g., Java, C++, C#, Visual Basic.NET,
Smalltalk, and the like), functional (e.g., ML, Lisp, Scheme, and
the like), procedural (e.g., C, Pascal, Ada, Modula, and the like),
scripting (e.g., Perl, Ruby, Python, JavaScript, VBScript, and the
like), and declarative (e.g., SQL, Prolog, and the like).
[0075] The embodiments described above may also use synchronous or
asynchronous client-server computing techniques. Also, the various
components may be implemented using more monolithic programming
techniques, for example, as an executable running on a single
processor computer system, or alternatively decomposed using a
variety of structuring techniques, including but not limited to,
multiprogramming, multithreading, client-server, or peer-to-peer,
running on one or more computer systems each having one or more
processors. Some embodiments may execute concurrently and
asynchronously, and communicate using message passing techniques.
Equivalent synchronous embodiments are also supported. Also, other
functions could be implemented and/or performed by each
component/module, and in different orders, and by different
components/modules, yet still achieve the described functions.
[0076] In addition, programming interfaces to the data stored as
part of the context reception system 102, the data analysis system
104 and/or the natural language generation system 106, such as by
using one or more application programming interfaces can be made
available by mechanisms such as through application programming
interfaces (API) (e.g. C, C++, C#, and Java); libraries for
accessing files, databases, or other data repositories; through
scripting languages such as XML; or through Web servers, FTP
servers, or other types of servers providing access to stored data.
The raw input data 110, historical data 112, the domain model 114
and/or the event log 116 may be implemented as one or more database
systems, file systems, or any other technique for storing such
information, or any combination of the above, including
implementations using distributed computing techniques.
Alternatively or additionally, the raw input data 110, historical
data 112, the domain model 114 and/or the event log 116 may be
local data stores but may also be configured to access data from
the remote data sources/alert systems 356.
[0077] Different configurations and locations of programs and data
are contemplated for use with techniques described herein. A
variety of distributed computing techniques are appropriate for
implementing the components of the illustrated embodiments in a
distributed manner including but not limited to TCP/IP sockets,
RPC, RMI, HTTP, Web Services (XML-RPC, JAX-RPC, SOAP, and the
like). Other variations are possible. Also, other functionality
could be provided by each component/module, or existing
functionality could be distributed amongst the components/modules
in different ways, yet still achieve the functions described
herein.
[0078] Furthermore, in some embodiments, some or all of the
components of the context reception system 102, the data analysis
system 104 and/or the natural language generation system 106 may be
implemented or provided in other manners, such as at least
partially in firmware and/or hardware, including, but not limited
to one or more ASICs, standard integrated circuits, controllers
executing appropriate instructions, and including microcontrollers
and/or embedded controllers, FPGAs, complex programmable logic
devices ("CPLDs"), and the like. Some or all of the system
components and/or data structures may also be stored as contents
(e.g., as executable or other machine-readable software
instructions or structured data) on a computer-readable medium so
as to enable or configure the computer-readable medium and/or one
or more associated computing systems or devices to execute or
otherwise use or provide the contents to perform at least some of
the described techniques. Some or all of the system components and
data structures may also be stored as data signals (e.g., by being
encoded as part of a carrier wave or included as part of an analog
or digital propagated signal) on a variety of computer-readable
transmission mediums, which are then transmitted, including across
wireless-based and wired/cable-based mediums, and may take a
variety of forms (e.g., as part of a single or multiplexed analog
signal, or as multiple discrete digital packets or frames). Such
computer program products may also take other forms in other
embodiments. Accordingly, embodiments of this disclosure may be
practiced with other computer system configurations.
Example Process Flow Diagrams
[0079] FIGS. 5-8 illustrate example flowcharts of the operations
performed by an apparatus, such as computing system 300 of FIG. 3,
in accordance with example embodiments of the present invention. It
will be understood that each block of the flowcharts, and
combinations of blocks in the flowcharts, may be implemented by
various means, such as hardware, firmware, one or more processors,
circuitry and/or other devices associated with execution of
software including one or more computer program instructions. For
example, one or more of the procedures described above may be
embodied by computer program instructions. In this regard, the
computer program instructions which embody the procedures described
above may be stored by a memory 301 of an apparatus employing an
embodiment of the present invention and executed by a processor 303
in the apparatus. As will be appreciated, any such computer program
instructions may be loaded onto a computer or other programmable
apparatus (e.g., hardware) to produce a machine, such that the
resulting computer or other programmable apparatus provides for
implementation of the functions specified in the flowcharts'
block(s). These computer program instructions may also be stored in
a non-transitory computer-readable storage memory that may direct a
computer or other programmable apparatus to function in a
particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the
computer-readable storage memory produce an article of manufacture,
the execution of which implements the function specified in the
flowcharts' block(s). The computer program instructions may also be
loaded onto a computer or other programmable apparatus to cause a
series of operations to be performed on the computer or other
programmable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process
such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other
programmable apparatus provide operations for implementing the
functions specified in the flowcharts' block(s). As such, the
operations of FIGS. 5-8, when executed, convert a computer or
processing circuitry into a particular machine configured to
perform an example embodiment of the present invention.
Accordingly, the operations of FIGS. 5-8 define an algorithm for
configuring a computer or processor, to perform an example
embodiment. In some cases, a general purpose computer may be
provided with an instance of the processor which performs the
algorithm of FIGS. 5-8 to transform the general purpose computer
into a particular machine configured to perform an example
embodiment.
[0080] Accordingly, blocks of the flowchart support combinations of
means for performing the specified functions and combinations of
operations for performing the specified functions. It will also be
understood that one or more blocks of the flowcharts', and
combinations of blocks in the flowchart, can be implemented by
special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform the
specified functions, or combinations of special purpose hardware
and computer instructions.
[0081] In some example embodiments, certain ones of the operations
herein may be modified or further amplified as described below.
Moreover, in some embodiments additional optional operations may
also be included. It should be appreciated that each of the
modifications, optional additions or amplifications described
herein may be included with the operations herein either alone or
in combination with any others among the features described
herein.
[0082] FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an example method for
generating a context-specific report, in accordance with some
embodiments of the present invention. As is shown in operation 502,
an apparatus may include means, such as the context reception
system 102, the data analysis system 104, the display 302, the
processor 303, or the like, for receiving context information. In
this regard, the context information comprises at least one
selected from the group consisting of: a subject matter constraint,
a time constraint, and a length constraint. In some embodiments,
the context information may conceivably include many other types of
user context descriptors (e.g., report length, interactivity of the
report, occurrence of graphics versus text in report, or the like),
or may receive this context information using any of a variety of
user input mechanisms (e.g., manual data entry, radio button
selection, pull-down menus, etc.). In some embodiments, the context
information is derived from the underlying data repository by a
process of abstraction of a selection or all of the data
attributes. Additionally or alternatively, the context information
may be associated with more than one person. As is shown in
operation 504, the apparatus may include means, such as the data
analysis system 104, the data interpreter 122, the natural language
generation system 108, the processor 303, or the like, for
generating a set of messages based on the context information,
wherein the set of messages are instantiated based on an analysis
of a data set based on the context information received from a data
repository.
[0083] As is shown in operation 506, the apparatus may include
means, such as the data analysis system 104, the data analyzer 120,
the data interpreter 122, the natural language generation system
108, the processor 303, or the like, for generating a
context-specific report based on the set of messages and the
relationship between them, wherein the context-specific report is
configured to linguistically or visually express at least a portion
of the messages. In this regard, the context-specific report
includes at least one of natural language text and graphic
displays. Moreover, the generation of the display may be based in
part upon the amount of visual real estate available. For instance,
in an instance in which there is not much space to display the
report, the report itself may be generalized to a higher level, in
which case additional information may be viewable by navigating
through a number of displayable windows, graphics, mouse-over tool
tip displays, or the like. Alternatively, a breadcrumb-style
sequence of hyperlinks may be presented, corresponding to nodes in
a path, so that the user can move forwards and backwards in a
series of displays intuitively. Similarly, graphics may be
presented as part of the report, and moreover the graphics, upon
mouse-over by the user, may display a pop-up window\ with annotated
with a detailed sub-report corresponding to the mouse-over portion
of the graphic. Finally, in some embodiments, the report may
include context-sensitive dynamic document generation, in which
case the user's specific actions navigating through various
interfaces provide additional context using which the language of
future documents are presented. For example, a sub-report might
omit common information that appeared on a previously-seen
sub-report, or the text might even relate the current report to a
previously seen sub-report.
[0084] As is shown in operation 508, the apparatus may include
means, such as the display 302, user interface module 232, or the
like, for displaying the context-specific report.
[0085] As is shown in operation 510, the apparatus may include
means, such as the data analysis system 104, the data analyzer 120,
the data interpreter 122, the natural language generation system
108, the processor 303, or the like, for generating additional
messages based on the context information, wherein additional
reporting data corresponding to the additional messages is viewable
based on interaction with the displayed context-specific report. In
this regard, the interaction with the displayed context-specific
report comprises at least one selected from the group consisting
of: a mouse-over of an element of the context-specific report and
selection of a hyperlinked portion of the context-specific report.
Moreover, the additional reporting data comprises a pop-out
annotation of graphical content, additional detail regarding a
message in the context-specific report, preview information
corresponding to a message in the context-specific report, and
context-sensitive information generated based on a set of
information previously presented with the context-specific
report.
[0086] FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an example method for
generating an interactive response using an exemplary context
sensitive report. In some examples, a high level text may be
displayed with the option of providing a link for more information
or certain portions of the text may be marked as providing more
information. In either case, a hyperlink may be used to illustrate
that more information is available. As is noted herein, the
hyperlink could be at the word, phrase, sentence paragraph or
report level.
[0087] As is shown in operation 602, an apparatus may include
means, such as the natural language generation system 106, the
processor 303, or the like, for identifying one or more messages to
be hyperlinked in an output report, wherein the one or more
messages are data structures that are configured to linguistically
describe at least a portion of raw input data. In some example
embodiments one or more messages may be identified or otherwise be
predefined to define or otherwise include information that
indicates the one or more messages that are to be interactive
(e.g., a flag, an indicator bit or the like) when realized. Those
messages that are marked as interactive will be those messages that
are hyperlinked in the output text, in some examples. Alternatively
or additionally, the document planner may define one or more
messages to be interactive messages. In some examples, the document
planner may identify an entire paragraph as being interactive.
[0088] As is shown in operation 604, an apparatus may include
means, such as the natural language generation system 106, the
processor 303, or the like, for determining one or more interactive
responses based on the one or more messages to be hyperlinked. In
some examples, the messages may indicate an interactive response.
In some examples, the document plan may further define the
resultant action when one or more hyperlinks are selected. In other
words, the document plan may define (e.g., messages to be included
in the interactive response the arrangement thereof) the
communicative goal of a particular message and therefore define an
interactive response. Alternatively or additionally, the
interactive response may be defined by a user, by a microplanner,
may be defined in the domain model or the like.
[0089] As is shown in operation 606, an apparatus may include
means, such as the natural language generation system 106, the
processor 303, or the like, for determining one or more words in a
phrase specification that are related to the one or more messages
to be hyperlinked. In some examples, the one or more words that are
related to the one or more messages are determined by hyperlinking
the entire sentence in an instance in which a single message is to
be realized into a single sentence and/or hyperlinking at least one
of a noun phrase, verb phrase or sentence constituent related to a
message that is to be hyperlinked based on at least one of
lexicalization rules, aggregation rules or a referring expression
generator.
[0090] As is shown in operation 608, an apparatus may include
means, such as the natural language generation system 106, the
processor 303, or the like, for generating the output report,
wherein the one or more words are hyperlinked in the output report
such that when selected at least one of the one or more interactive
responses is performed. In some examples, once realized, the report
may be shown a screen via a user interface. The user interface may
provide for a hyperlink in the form of an underline, box or the
like. The hyperlink may be selectable, in some example embodiments,
and may generate the interactive response, such as another text
graph or the like. Alternatively or additionally, the hyperlink may
provide a menu of potential responses in response to a click, thus
prompting the user to determine whether a graph or text is desired.
In some examples, the interactive response is dynamically generated
based on the user's selection, whereas in other examples it may be
generated, but not displayed, at the same time as the initial
report. In some cases, the text may be generated and displayed in
the case of a mouse-over.
[0091] As is shown in operation 610, an apparatus may include
means, such as the natural language generation system 106, the
processor 303, or the like, for generating an interactive response
using a context sensitive report in response to a selection of a
hyperlink. In some examples, the determined interactive response is
a graph. As such, the apparatus may include means, such as the
natural language generation system 106, the processor 303, or the
like, for detecting one or more patterns in a data channel derived
from raw input data; identifying one or more patterns in another
data channel also derived from the raw input data; generating one
or more phrases describing the one or more patterns in the data
channel and the one or more patterns in the another data channel;
and generating a graphical output based on the data channel, the
another data channel and the one or more phrases, wherein the one
or more phrases are interactively annotated on the graphical output
of the data channel and the another data channel.
[0092] Alternatively or additionally, in an instance in which the
determined interactive response is another report, the apparatus
may include means, such as the natural language generation system
106, the processor 303, or the like, for determining the document
plan for the another report based on a document plan for the output
report and the communicative goal of the sentence containing the
hyperlink and generating the another output report using an context
sensitive report.
[0093] In some examples, the output report or another output
report, an interactive response or the like is generated based on
the current context or other context of the user, reader or the
like. For example, one or more messages can be marked as viewed by
a user and those messages transformed into phrase specifications
that are realized and have been previously viewed will not be
displayed in a future report. In other examples, certain data
channels over certain periods may be marked as viewed. As such, in
instances in which an interactive response or another report is
dynamically generated, such an output may be given in context and
may have a reduced amount of information when compared to the
amount of information originally in a document plan for the
interactive response or another output report.
[0094] FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an example method for
generating graphical annotations, such as in the case a graph or
annotations are to be generated as the output report (see e.g.,
FIG. 4a) or the interactive response (e.g., the another report). As
is shown in operation 702, an apparatus may include means, such as
the natural language generation system 106, the processor 303, or
the like, for receiving an indication of an alarm condition. In
some example embodiments an alarm may cause the selection of a
primary data channel and a determination of a time period in which
the alarm was generated. Alternatively or additionally other means
may be used to alert the apparatus to a primary data channel, such
as, but not limited to, a user action, a selection of a hyperlink,
a detected pattern in the raw input data or a data channel, a
determined value in the raw input data or a data channel, and/or
the like.
[0095] As is shown in operation 704, an apparatus may include
means, such as the natural language generation system 106, the
processor 303, or the like, for determining one or more key
patterns in a primary data channel. In some example embodiments the
key patterns may be determined based on the time period of the
alarm condition, however in other examples a larger or smaller time
period may be selected.
[0096] As is shown in operation 706, an apparatus may include
means, such as the natural language generation system 106, the
processor 303, or the like, for determining one or more significant
patterns in one or more related data channels. In some example
embodiments, the apparatus, may determine one or related channels
based on one or more predefined relationships. In some examples,
the predefined relationships may be defined by the domain model
114.
[0097] As is shown in operation 708, an apparatus may include
means, such as natural language generation system 106, the
processor 303, or the like, for determining one or more contextual
channels to be included in the graphical output. The one or more
contextual channels may provide events or other context that may be
indicative of the cause of the one or more key patterns and/or the
one or more significant patterns. As is shown in operation 710, an
apparatus may include means, such as natural language generation
system 106, the processor 303, or the like, for determining a time
period to be represented by the graphical output. In some example
embodiments, the time period chosen for the graph is the time
period in which the one or more key patterns are displayed. As is
shown in operation 712, an apparatus may include means, such as
natural language generation system 106, the processor 303, or the
like, for generating a natural language annotation of at least one
of the one or more key patterns or the one or more significant
patterns.
[0098] As is shown in operation 714, an apparatus may include
means, such as natural language generation system 106, the
processor 303, a user interface or the like, for generating a
graphical output that is configured to be displayed in a user
interface. In some example embodiments, the graph is configured to
utilize the determined scale to display the primary data channel,
one or more related channels having significant events, natural
language annotations, a narrative, events and/or the like. In some
example embodiments and in an instance in which a user clicks on a
text annotation in the graph, a corresponding phrase in the
situation analysis text may be highlighted and/or in an instance in
which a user clicks on underlined phrase in the narrative or
situation analysis text, a corresponding annotation may be
highlighted on the graph.
[0099] In some example embodiments described herein, the apparatus,
a graph may be generated (e.g., as an output report, output text,
interactive report, another report or the like) having a scale
(e.g. amplitude (y-axis) and/or time scale (x-axis)) that
advantageously displays one or more data channels (e.g. a first or
primary data channel, a secondary or related data channel and/or
the like) that are derived from raw input data, one or more natural
language text annotations and/or a narrative describing raw input
data. As such, advantageously, a user viewing the graph, in a user
interface or using other viewing means, may be provided with
situational awareness with regard to the patterns shown on the
graph as well as the events and or patterns that may have
influenced the patterns shown on the graph.
[0100] In some examples, a first or primary data channel may be
selected for inclusion in a graph based on a selection by a user,
via a user interface, may be selected based on the happening of a
condition such as, but not limited to, an alert, an alarm, an
anomaly, a violation of a constraint, a warning, a predetermined
condition, selection of a hyperlink, based on an indication that
the primary data channel is related to the communicative goal
and/or the like.
[0101] In some example embodiments, a secondary or related data
channel may also be selected. In some cases, there may be a
plurality of secondary or related data channels. The secondary or
related data channel may be selected for inclusion in a graph based
on the detection of anomalous, unexpected or otherwise flagged
behavior in the second or related channel. In some examples, the
second or related channel is compared to one or more patterns in
the primary data channel over a similar time period. For example, a
first data channel may indicate a rise in heart rate, whereas a
second data channel may indicate a stable or even a decline in
respiration rate. Generally respiration rate rises with heart rate,
and, as such, a stable respiration rate is generally unexpected. In
some examples, unexpected behavior may lead to a life threatening
condition, be indicative of a dangerous condition or the like.
[0102] Relationships between data channels may be defined as
anomalous behavior by a qualitative model such as a domain model. A
domain model is a representation of information about the domain.
For example a domain model may contain an ontology that specifies
the kinds of objects and concepts and the like that may exist in
the domain in concrete or abstract form, properties that may be
predicated of the objects and concepts and the like, relationships
that may hold between the objects concepts and the like, and
representations of any specific knowledge that is required to
function in the domain. In some example multiple domain models may
be provided for a single domain. Example domains may include, but
are not limited to, medical, oil and gas, industrial, weather,
legal, financial and/or the like. Alternatively or additionally, a
plurality of related channels may be included, for example pulse
rate, oxygen levels, blood pressure and/or the like.
[0103] In some examples, patterns (e.g. a trend, spike, step or the
like) may be detected or otherwise identified in the primary data
channel and/or in the one or more secondary data channels. Once a
pattern is detected in the primary data channel and/or the one or
more secondary data channels, an importance level or importance is
assigned to each of the patterns. In the primary data channel an
importance level may be defined based on thresholds, constraints,
predefined conditions or the like. In the secondary data channels
an importance level may also be assigned based on thresholds,
constraints, predefined conditions or the like, however an
importance level may also be assigned based on the relationship
between the secondary data channels and the primary data channels
and/or the relationships between the patterns detected in the
primary data channels and the patterns detected in the secondary
data channels. A pattern in the primary channel may be defined as a
key pattern in an instance in which the importance level of the
pattern exceeds or otherwise satisfies a predefined importance
level. Likewise, a significant pattern is a pattern in a secondary
data channel that exceeds or otherwise satisfies a predefined
importance level. In some examples, a pattern in the one or more
secondary channels may also be classified as a significant pattern
if it represents an anomaly or otherwise unexpected behavior when
compared with the primary data channel.
[0104] In some example embodiments, a contextual channel may also
be selected. A contextual channel is a data channel that provides a
background or circumstance information that may have caused or
otherwise influenced the one or more key patterns and/or the one or
more significant patterns (e.g. proximate cause). For example, a
contextual channel may indicate an event, such as a medical
treatment that was applied at the time of or just prior to the rise
of the heartbeat and/or the fall or steady state of the respiration
rate. Alternatively or additionally, a plurality of data channels
may also be selected for inclusion in a graph based on an anomaly
or unexpected behavior.
[0105] Alternatively or additionally, one or more data channels may
be selected for inclusion in a graph even though the one or more
data channels are representative of expected behavior. For example,
in the medical domain, a medical professional may expect to see
both heart rate and respiration rate on a graph even if both are
behaving in expected ways, since expected behavior may be
indicative of an important result, namely a clean bill of health.
As such, a selection of a hyperlink relating to heart rate, would
provide a graph of both heart rate and respiration. In some cases,
based on the current context (e.g., whether the professional has
seen a graph of respiration already, the respiration rate may be
omitted.
[0106] In yet further example embodiments, events may also be
generated for display in the graph. An event may be described in a
contextual channel, may be entered into an event log that is input
with the raw input data or may be inferred. For example, caffeine
administration may be entered as an explicit event in a patient
record (e.g. in an event log), the caffeine could be detected by a
change in one or data channels which record what medication is
being administered through an IV line and/or the caffeine
administration may be inferred based on a spike in heart rate. In
instances in which an event is identified that satisfies an
importance threshold, the event may be displayed as a visual
annotation. In an example in which a graph is displayed, events may
be displayed as a vertical line. Alternatively or additionally
events may be generated as a horizontal line with indicators
showing the multiple occurrences of an event and/or the like. In
other visualizations, events may be displayed via text, indicator
or other visual outputs.
[0107] In some example embodiments, a scale may be selected for the
graph based on the primary data channel, the secondary data channel
or the like. The scale may be determined based on a time period or
duration in which a pattern that satisfies an importance threshold
is identified, anomalous behavior occurs in a related data channel
and/or the like. Alternatively or additionally the time period may
be set by a user, may be a time period that is significant or
specifically identified on the basis of properties of the domain,
communicative goal, current context or the like. In some examples,
if the user has already seen a graph of rate of a time period, a
selection of an event may only result in a graph of a heart rate
surrounding the time of the event.
[0108] In further example embodiments, textual annotations and/or a
narrative may be included with the graph. The textual annotations
and/or the narrative may be provided by a natural language
generation system, such as natural language generation system 106,
that is configured to generate one or more textual annotations in
the form of sentences or phrases that describe the patterns in the
data channels, expected or unexpected behavior, an event, a
contextual channel and/or the like. Additionally, in some examples,
the sentences or phrases may take the form of stand-alone text that
provides situational awareness and/or situational analysis of the
graph. In some examples, situation analysis text may be configured
to include pattern descriptions that contribute to narrative
coherence, background information or the like. The textual
annotations may be located on the graph, such as at the location
where the anomalies and/or the patterns are represented in the
graph. Alternatively or additionally, the narrative may be
displayed on or near the graph in some examples. Whereas, in other
examples, the narrative may be contained in a separate file, may be
generated before/after or otherwise separately from the generation
of the graph or may be a separate interactive response. In some
examples, annotations may be shown as a preview. For example as a
user is moving their cursor across the graph, an interactive
response may include a text box that elaborates on a particular
point on the graph. Alternatively or additionally, the textual
annotations and/or narrative may be provided via speech or other
available modalities.
[0109] Based on the one or more channels derived from the raw input
data, the contextual channel and/or the annotations, the graph may
be generated for display. The graph is configured to display a time
scale that contains those identified sections (e.g. key patterns
and/or significant patterns) in the one or more data channels, the
textual annotations, additional available visual annotations and/or
the like. In some example embodiments, user interaction with the
narrative text may result in an annotation on the graphical output
to be highlighted. Similarly selection of an annotation may
highlight narrative text related to the annotation. Alternatively
or additionally, the annotations may include a symbol or other
reference numeral that is indicative of or otherwise related to the
narrative. For example, the narrative may indicate that a first key
pattern is indicated by an arrow, a circle, a box, a reference
number or the like in the graph.
[0110] FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an example method for
generating the report using an exemplary context sensitive report.
As is shown in operation 802, an apparatus may include means, such
as the natural language generation system 106, the processor 303,
or the like, for instantiating one or more messages. As is shown in
operation 804, an apparatus may include means, such as natural
language generation system 106, the processor 303, or the like, for
arranging one or more messages in a document plan in an order in
which they are to be linguistically described in the output text.
As is shown in operation 806, an apparatus may include means, such
as natural language generation system 106, the processor 303, or
the like, for converting at least one of the one or more messages
into a text specification that represents one or more data
structures that are representative of a syntactic structure of a
sentence As is shown in operation 808, an apparatus may include
means, such as natural language generation system 106, the
processor 303, or the like, for applying a grammar to the text
specification to generate the output text.
[0111] In some examples, the systems and methods as described
herein may be used for informative purposes, may provide guidance
as to market trends to enable buying decisions or the like.
However, in some examples, the systems and methods described herein
may be used for compliance, such as for the compliance of a bank
with certain regulations. For example, the systems and methods may
include a user interface that enables compliance committee members
to view data relating to particular trading, proposed trades or the
like so that they may understand the data at a level in which they
can determine compliance.
[0112] In some examples, such a system may generate the context
reports based on a regulation. For example, the trade timeline and
type may be defined by the type of sign off requested. Once the
reports are generated, such as using the techniques of FIGS. 1 and
5, the member may review the reports in the user interface to
determine compliance. Once compliance is determined, the necessary
sign offs may be received from the member in the user interface.
The user interface may then be used to track and automate the sign
off and review process. Thus using focused natural language texts
and an interactive text generation environment, companies may
advantageously improve their compliance procedures. Other
collaborative compliance tools may be envisioned based on the
description herein.
[0113] Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions
set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to
which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings
presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated
drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are
not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that
modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included
within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, although the
foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings describe example
embodiments in the context of certain example combinations of
elements and/or functions, it should be appreciated that different
combinations of elements and/or functions may be provided by
alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the
appended claims. In this regard, for example, different
combinations of elements and/or functions than those explicitly
described above are also contemplated as may be set forth in some
of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed
herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and
not for purposes of limitation.
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